Interdisciplinary Earth Systems program approved

STANFORD -- Students in the interdisciplinary Earth Systems program will
be able to earn bachelor's degrees beginning in June.

The Faculty Senate on Jan. 9 approved a request from the Committee on
Undergraduate Studies to give the program degree-granting status on a
three-year trial basis, despite some concern that existing programs would be
jeopardized in the funding quest for the new major.

The senate steering committee last year delayed consideration of the
proposal, seeking additional information on Earth System's size and soundness
and assurance that it had sufficient resources.

Earth Systems, an interdisciplinary program begun in 1990, pulls together
such fields as geology, engineering, biology and economics to study
large-scale environmental processes and problems, Prof. David Freyberg, chair
of the committee on undergraduate studies, told the senate. The committee
endorsed the proposed major last year and again this year.

The program grew out of the scholarly interests of faculty and students,
and parallels society's interest in such broad problems as ozone depletion
and global climate change, Freyberg said. It is intended for students who
plan to pursue graduate study in environmental aspects of a traditional
discipline, interdisciplinary environmental programs or professional studies
such as law.

Freyberg told the senate that the program provides breadth in introductory
courses and depth through a system of five tracks and a final senior project.
The program's tracks are geosphere, biosphere, anthrosphere, land systems
management and environmental technology. Courses are taught by faculty from
the schools of Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities and Sciences, with
Earth Sciences providing especially strong backing.

Program organizers expect the major to grow to approximately 45 students
in three years, said Prof. Jonathan Roughgarden, who holds appointments in
biological sciences and geophysics, and who chairs the program's executive
committee.

Responding to art Prof. Al Elsen's concern about sufficient long-term
faculty commitment, Gary Ernst, dean of the School of Earth Sciences,
predicted sustained interest because of possible funding for research in
global change by NASA, the Department of Energy and the National Science
Foundation, among others.

He told the senate that his school is seriously committed to the program
and that he plans to step up fund-raising efforts this spring, initially from
oil companies. Funding should be available, he said, "because this has become
an international political problem."

Ernst so far has secured $305,000 for the program to cover its $100,000
per year incremental cost for the three-year trial. He told the senate he
hoped to raise enough to make a faculty appointment in environmental studies
in the next year or so.

Earth Systems is an example of "Stanford as it should be, moving forward
in nontraditional ways," Stansky said, but he questioned why the program
could not be operated with existing resources.

Rather than use incremental funding for Earth Systems, Stansky suggested
spending the money on "Freshman English, the performing arts or traditional
parts of the university that are so under siege."

Rebholz worried aloud that if the program succeeds, long-term funding
would compete with programs that already are financially "in jeopardy."

President Donald Kennedy labeled the program's start-up costs "modest
compared to others," and said funding opportunities were unique to Earth
Systems, not in competition with existing programs.

Responding to Rebholz, he said it was "unreasonable" to suggest that a
program had to prove it had long-range, non-competitive funding to receive
academic approval from the senate.

English Prof. George Dekker said he shared concerns about decreased
funding for other programs, "but this is a terrific proposal - the kind of
interdisciplinary program Stanford does uniquely well."

"I don't want us to go into a period where we're no longer willing to
support really important curricular innovation," he said.

In the course of discussion, Ernst discovered a potential new collaborator
for Earth Systems. Warning her faculty colleagues that "we must be very
careful not to stifle faculty initiative in a period of budget crisis,"
political science Prof. Terry Karl publicly told Ernst that he might find
additional support from other parts of the university.

She said that the Institute for International Studies has identified the
environment as a priority area of study, and its research centers, including
the program she directs in Latin American studies, regularly bring visiting
experts to campus for teaching and research.

The geologist and political scientist were observed enthusiastically
introducing themselves to each other after the meeting.

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